The Official Soundtrack of 2013
by RoseRiku
Summary: Pricefield. College AU. Max is starting her first semester at Portland Community College, staying in the dorms, and she's hours away from her home in Seattle. She never wanted a love triangle or to be sucked into the school's darkest scandal. She just wanted to pass her classes and fit in. But sometimes getting what you don't want makes you realize what you NEED.


Life is Strange Multi-Chapter Fic. College AU. Pricefield featuring some Grahamfield, Caulscott, and Ambowers.

Rated M for disturbing material, sexual content, and heavy swearing.

Disclaimer: Life is Strange and the characters belong to DontNod Entertainment. I am just borrowing them for creative expression and lots of feelings. I also do not own any song used or mentioned in this fic, they belong to their respective artists.

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 **The Soundtrack of 2013**

" _Hey, I put some new shoes on and suddenly everything's right. I said, hey, I put some new shoes on and everybody's smiling, it's so inviting."_

Track One: New Shoes by Paolo Nutini

 _September 8, 2013_

 _Dear Journal,_

 _It is so surreal to be writing this entry from MY NEW DORM ROOM! I'm both excited and nervous. My parents just left. Mom wouldn't stop crying and Dad wouldn't stop asking me if there was anything else I might need before they went back to Seattle. And now I'm alone. My new roommate has yet to show up. All I know about her is that her name is Rachel Amber and she's a freshman like me. Her side of the room is bare as bones, while mine is littered with unopened boxes and bulging bags tightened with drawstrings. I suppose I should start unpacking and decorating – I'm just trying to calm down first. It feels like there are a million butterflies flapping around in my stomach. I'm so scared to be on my own, around three hours away from home. I'm in a new environment. I don't know this city or anyone here. I hope I can stop being so anxious and awkward long enough to make a couple of ACTUAL friends and not act like such a loser. But who am I kidding? I AM a loser and it's going to be really hard to hide that._

 _Besides, I'm not here to be popular. I'm here to study at PCC and get my certificate in the Multimedia Program so that I can get a job working behind a camera, where I feel most comfortable, most like myself._

 _I know I could have gone somewhere more glamorous than Portland Community College, but I had a rough high school career. I wasn't very interested in my classes (I don't even know how I passed my math and sciences) and I lost my motivation when I applied to Blackwell Academy my junior year and got flat out rejected. Since then, I'd done a bit of research on schools in the Washington area but none really stuck out to me until I found PCC listed, just a few hours away in Portland, Oregon. I saw they had a Multimedia Program, great prices that wouldn't burden my parents any, and I was sold. It was hard to find a community college that had a program I was interested in, and I couldn't picture myself at some stuck-up university for four whole years taking a buttload more math and science classes that I hated. So here I am! And I'm nervous as hell, especially about living in a dorm and having a roommate. Speaking of which… I hear people talking in the hallway right now! Maybe it's her? I'll update my situation later._

I quickly shut my journal just as I heard the buzz of the keycard reader for our door. I hurriedly straightened my grey sweater and black shirt out so that I'd look presentable meeting Rachel. First impressions meant a lot to me. The butterflies in my stomach flapped away as I saw a gorgeous Caucasian girl with perfectly-in-place dirty blonde hair stride in as if she owned the room already. I swallowed. A mousy nobody like me would of course be destined to get such a stunning, tall, slender knockout for a roomie. Of course.

"Hey," she nodded at me as she set a large duffle bag that was draped over her shoulder down on the bare mattress closest to her. My mattress already had some bags on it. "I'm Rachel… Amber."

"I'm Max… Caulfield," I responded, mimicking her. I intended it to come off as funny but I probably sounded like I was mocking her. I cringed at already coming off as an awkward douche.

"Max, huh? That short for Maxine? I like Maxine better," she replied as she unzipped her duffle bag and started sorting through it a bit. She had her back turned to me. "I'm going to run back down to my Mum's car and grab some more of my stuff. I'll be right back, _Maxine._ "

I watched Rachel, keycard in hand, as she abandoned her opened duffle bag and headed right back out the door.

"Just Max," I said to the empty room – wishing I had said what I wanted to say. I could already tell Rachel was going to stress me out quite a bit. She was so _forward_ already – and that wasn't me. I was never very good at being anything other than a pushover. I hoped she wouldn't discover that about me and start being manipulative with that fact.

Before I even had a chance to recover from meeting Rachel, I nearly had a heart attack as my bathroom door swung open. In walked a girl with a slight tan, curves for days, and cute, messy light brown hair parted to the side and thrown into a bun. I was suddenly very self-conscious. If all the girls at PCC were going to be this conventionally attractive, I was going to be seen as the Campus Mole Rat. But I had pushed that thought aside to think about the bigger problem in front of me – why was some girl entering my room from the bathroom? Without knocking? Most secure dorm room of the year award goes to… anyone's that isn't mine.

"Didn't mean to startle you. I'm Juliet… and I'm your new suitemate!" She shut the bathroom door but stood near it and didn't come any closer, as if she was afraid she might scare me and I'd scurry away.

In the PCC dorms, we all share a bathroom with our neighbors. At least we don't have to share one bathroom with an entire floor like a lot of colleges do.

"Oh… hi," I said, lamely. In my defense, I had been severely taken off guard. "My name's Max." I added quickly, " _Just_ Max." to avoid any Maxine incidents from happening again.

"Okay Just Max," Juliet smirked.

I sighed.

"Here's the deal. I don't want to scare you but I went to high school with your roommate. I overheard correctly, right? Rachel Amber's your roommate?"

Um.

"Yes?" The butterflies flapped wildly again. Was Rachel some huge bitch or something that I'd have to worry about?

"Okay. Well. Just warning you because I care. She's a slut. She will absolutely bring people back to the room multiple times a week, and I'd be careful with whoever you date because she will chase after them. Bitch stole my boyfriend and ruined my entire prom night."

"Uh… oh… okay… Thank you? I guess?" _Is this girl for cereal?_ I didn't know what to say.

"You're welcome. I will be in the next room if you ever need me."

 _Yeah, eavesdropping apparently,_ I thought.

"Oh… okay… same," I still didn't know what to say.

"Nice meeting you, Max." Juliet disappeared back through the bathroom and I took a deep breath because I had been in a dorm for less than ten minutes on my own and already it was pretty weird.

I had zero idea what exactly to think about what had just happened. Juliet seemed very insincere and gossipy, but if Rachel _did_ want to hook up with people all the time then I was going to have a hard time studying if I was always going to have to deal with being kicked out of my room, or having to deal with some dude staying over every other night. This room was barely big enough for two people, let alone a third person being crammed in.

I heard the keycard reader buzz again. This time Rachel walked in with a couple of totes stacked on top of each other. She was struggling to hold them up, I could tell, so I decided to help her out.

"Thanks!" she seemed genuinely happy when I took the top tote for her.

"Is your mom not helping you?"

"Nah, she's on the phone with one of her clients in the car right now. She is usually on the phone with one of her clients, honestly," she told me.

"Wowzer. That sucks. Is she going to come say goodbye to you at least?" I couldn't imagine someone's mom not being a tearful, blubbering mess like mine was.

"Not sure. Most likely the answer is no," Rachel grunted as she put her tote on the bed next to her duffle bag. "I have to go grab _one_ more box downstairs. I'll be right back. Thanks for helping; you can set that right on the bed."

"Okay," I put the tote in my hands next to her other tote as she left the room again.

I sighed and looked at all the stuff on my side of the room and figured I should get to work making myself at home since I was going to be sleeping in this bed for the next four and a half months. It wouldn't be anything like my cozy, artsy abode back in Seattle but I was determined to make it as pleasurable to live in as possible. Although I was already feeling pangs in my heart at how much I knew I was going to miss my HDTV and huge DVD collection…

After an hour and a half, I was all unpacked and organized. Meanwhile, Rachel's side of the room was still a chaotic mess. She had been kind of just throwing stuff in different drawers and haphazardly taping up photos and posters. My space was much tidier.

I watched my new roommate for a moment as she taped up the last couple posters she had. One seemed to be of a band; one I didn't recognize. The other was a large, colorful drawing of a girl with flowers and butterflies surrounding her.

"Did you draw that?" I asked.

"Nope, someone I had a brief fling with last year drew it for me. In high school," she answered as she finished putting her tape away.

I wanted to mind my business, and I was still feeling a little shy so I didn't ask why she kept artwork from a "fling" – or even why they would draw her such an obviously greatly detailed piece of work in the first place if it was just a "fling". I thought about what my suitemate said and started to wonder if it was entirely true. All I said to Rachel was, "Oh. Cool. I like it." She never brought it up again after that.

I propped up my pillows and my childhood teddy bear – who I heavily debated bringing, then debated keeping him stuffed under my bed for emergencies, but I noticed Rachel had a long plush dragon on her bed so I decided it was safe to leave him out. I was pleased with myself, so I hopped into my new bed and inhaled my freshly washed sheets.

"So, Maxine, what's your major?"

It took me a minute to realize she had just asked me a question. I'd been spacing out, already thinking about my own bed back in Seattle and how I was already missing it a little. Plus I wasn't accustomed to going by anything other than Max. "Multimedia. you?"

"Ooh. Artsy fartsy, huh?" she giggled and flopped herself onto her bed as she plugged in her phone and started swiping the screen. "For some reason I was expecting you to say something boring like math."

"Why? Do I look boring?" I asked, feeling a tad self-conscious.

"Frankly… you do," she said matter-of-factly. "Not that it's necessarily a bad thing?"

"Well what's _your_ major?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Rachel flicked her long, flowing hair. I saw a glimpse of a blue earring, it looked like one of those feather ones. "Undecided," she answered. "For now. I'm just gonna take gen-eds until I figure it out."

I couldn't imagine going to a college and having no idea what I wanted to do with it, but hey, I wasn't about to judge. "That's cool."

"No," she scoffed. "It isn't. You don't have to lie. I'll be honest with you, my parents are making me go to college. They wanted me to attend a university but eventually I got them to accept that a life like that just wasn't for me. Community college was my only other option. They refused to let me go off and do my own thing without getting some sort of education."

"Well what do you eventually want to do? Do you have any idea?" She was so pretty. I figured she could be an actress or a singer or something.

"In all honesty I'm passionate about modeling. I even have a portfolio already," she replied.

I had hit the nail on the head.

"You'd be great," I told her.

"You saying I'm cute?" Rachel smirked.

I blushed. _Great,_ I thought, _your roommate thinks you have a thing for her already. Good start._

"Oh relax I'm just teasing. I know you're just making small talk and being nice." She ran her fingers through her hair and leaned back on her bed as she swiped her phone again.

God, so far she seemed to be so blunt and carefree. I envied her already.

Her phone rang for about one second. She glanced at the screen then answered it almost immediately, since it was already in her hand. I watched her because there was nothing else to watch in such a tiny, television-less room.

"Hey!" Rachel sat up and her hair cascaded over her flannel-covered shoulders. If she had been my type, I would definitely have been attracted to her. But she was anything _but_ my type. So instead of being attracted to her, she just made me feel jealous. Already. I'd been living with her for like two hours and _already I was jealous of her_. I was banking that the feeling would pass within a couple weeks once I got to know her better. My constant nagging thoughts about how inferior I am compared to everyone else were bad enough already without the crippling pressure to be as put-together as another person, particularly someone I had to share a little room with for a decent chunk of time.

I heard a female's voice on the other end of the phone, but couldn't make out what was being said. Rachel added, "That's a great idea. Should I invite my new roomie?" She stuck her tongue out at me and I felt my face flush. Oh God. More new people? A social situation? I wasn't sure that I was prepared for that crap yet.

"I'll ask her," she confirmed to the girl on the phone. "I'll text you in a few, okay? Bye!"

"Ask me what?" I sat up, ignoring the waver I heard in my own voice.

"Two Whales Diner. You can meet some of the club." Her voice was bubbly and light and made me genuinely feel like she wanted me to go. But I was scared, there was no denying that.

"I don't know…" I told her. I rubbed my hands up and down the sleeves of my sweater.

"Oh come on stop being so pathetic. No one's asking you to do anything crazy. Just go eat some cheap diner food and meet a few new colleagues."

"Fine," I gave in, not really sure if it was going to be fine at all.

But we went.

"Everyone, Maxine. Maxine, everyone," Rachel announced as we walked into The Two Whales. Her friends were the only full table in the whole place. There was a trucker nearby eating his dinner at the bar who gave us a slightly annoyed glare.

I waved at 'everyone' meekly. "Hello. Just Max, please."

"Pfft," Rachel jeered. But in a way that made me feel I wasn't entirely being made fun of.

"I'm Taylor," a long-haired blonde at the table said. She looked mildly disinterested in meeting me.

"Courtney."

"Hayden."

"Dana."

Rachel plopped down in the large round booth her friends were occupying and patted the seat next to her. "Sit. No one is going to bite."

I uncomfortably slid in next to her, but stayed turned a bit to the side, my legs facing out a bit towards the outside of the table so I could make a quick escape if needed.

"Get used to Hayden here, he's one of the RAs and he works the front desk if you lose your keycard or some shit," Rachel informed me, nodding at the only guy at the table. He had dark skin, shaved hair, and was engrossed in the food in front of him. It looked like they had already ordered appetizers before we got there but he seemed to be the only person interested in them. He glanced at me in acknowledgment when Rachel mentioned his name though. Good enough. Who knows? Maybe he would have actually said something if his mouth wasn't full of mozzarella stick. Or maybe he was like me and didn't really like meeting new people although I doubted that was the case seeing as he was an RA and being social was most likely a requirement.

I could never be an RA.

"Classes tomorrow, everyone," a girl who I think said her name was Courtney said while tucking a dark strand of hair behind her ear. "I totally know exactly what I'm going to wear. What about you guys?"

"Oh my gosh I found the cutest dress for the first day of classes! It's short and has the most adorable design and will go perfect with the leggings I bought last week," Taylor said to Courtney.

I was already bored with this conversation. These were not really my crowd… I wondered if any of them were judging my plain t-shirt, sweater, and jeans combo. Not to mention my hair was so flat and dull compared to theirs. What was up with the girls at this school? I thought a community college would have more down to earth human beings that didn't look like Barbie dolls.

Fortunately before they could all keep talking about clothes the waitress came over and took our orders. I just got a BLT and a coke. I hoped I could keep it down seeing as the butterflies were still really disrupting my stomach.

"Max. What are you studying?" The one sitting across from me, Dana, asked politely. She was another white girl in the sea of white girls. She had pulled back hair and shiny gold earrings that dangled whenever she talked or moved even just a tick.

I fidgeted, pulling the sleeves of my sweater down over my hands and making fists. "Multimedia. What about you?"

"No way, that's awesome. Do you have Mr. Jefferson? He is the absolute hottest professor at this school and he teaches some amazing classes for the Multimedia Program!" Dana bobbed her head excitedly.

My chest swelled up, proud that I had pleased her with my choice of major even if it was for a silly reason. Who cared what a _professor_ looked like? Gross. "I think I do, actually. That name sounds familiar. Do you know any specific classes he teaches?"

"Mm… pretty sure it's something like Video Programming… also he teaches an editing class I think, some photography classes, probably an Advance Video Programming class too."

"Oh! Yeah I'm taking Video Programming I this semester. He has three levels of the class you can take," I informed her.

"Oh you lucky bitch!" she giggled. "I would not be able to pay attention in his class, he's so dreamy. I haven't met him in person but I did see a picture of him on Facebook because my friend was being a total creep and she showed me."

Our waitress brought us our drinks. I immediately took a sip of my coke. I hadn't realized how thirsty I was with all the excitement.

"Well I'd really like to pass so.. hopefully I won't get distracted by him," I chuckled lightly. Not that I would ever get distracted by a teacher being _hot_ because that's incredibly lame… but I couldn't tell Dana that I thought it was lame. _Earth to Max, you are here to make friends. Pretend you are nice,_ I thought.

I continued mostly talking to Dana, even after we all got our food and started mowing down. She didn't seem like someone I could talk about my interests with, or be best friends forever with, but she was a human and she was easy to talk to – she was nice to me. That was all I could ask for. I had been in the dorms for just a handful of hours and already I was hanging out with my roommate and a group of people off campus. I felt a surge of happiness at this realization because it was much more than I had been predicting to get my first night in the city.

The thing was… I had anxiety and depression. I knew it wasn't something that was uncommon or unmanageable. But sometimes, especially throughout high school, it was just so hard to deal with. Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning, start thinking about the stuff I'd have to handle throughout the day – and I'd freeze up. Throat would close up, I'd have shallow breathing, nausea, a throbbing headache – panic attacks induced by me just _thinking._ On occasion I'd have to run to hide in a bathroom stall while at school until I could ride one out. They would make me feel faint. They'd make me tear up and have a sense of being trapped or in danger.

Then there were the days where I couldn't do anything but sleep. I'd be drowning in so many responsibilities that it just exhausted me emotionally from the stress. I not only wouldn't do the stuff I needed to do, but I'd be unable to do _anything._ I would cry, I would sleep, I would stare off into space for hours, but I couldn't really eat or shower on a regular schedule without severe difficulty during these periods of time, I hate to say. Eventually they always faded and I'd be back to going about my days without much issue again.

But the days without issue would fade as well, and the miserable cycle of sadness would come back to me soon – and I was due for an episode.

While I was signing up for PCC, these facts were what scared me the most. Going to school every day was one thing, but it was another living on campus, constantly being surrounded by people, with the infinite fear that at any second I could just start feeling weighed down and exhausted and stressed – that at any second I could start shaking and crying and be plagued with an embarrassing anxiety attack.

Considering one of the things that triggered the majority of my panic was new social interaction or new situations all together, I was having a good night. A great night. I deserved a pat on the back.

I definitely didn't think about the possibility of my night getting any better.

But it did.

The little bell to the doors of the Two Whales chimed as two girls walked in. One was pale, short, with sandy colored hair swept into a bun – wisps falling into her face. She wore a dark cardigan and a beige pencil skirt. The other girl was, honestly as hard as it is to believe, more beautiful than any of the girls sitting at my table with me, but maybe in a slightly less conventional way. Her right arm was almost fully covered in a colorful tattoo sleeve. She was also pale like the girl next to her, but her skin glowed a little more. This girl was tall and skinny, but not lanky and flat like a board like I was. She had slight curves and defined features. But her hair…

Her hair was a beautiful shade of blue. Not a Kool-Aid blue, but not a sky or turquoise blue either. It was like an artist had dipped a brush into all three of those colors, blending them into the color that covered this girl's head. A plain, navy blue beanie hid a good seventy-percent of her short hair, but I was still drawn to the messy strands that showed.

"Uh, Rach. Don't look now!" Taylor said with warning, quietly.

Rachel froze then mouthed, "Who is it?" to her friend.

Taylor tapped her fingers on her left hand up the side of her right arm. I assumed this was code for the girl with the blue hair; probably a code that they had created together in the past, because the look on Rachel's face showed immediate understanding, and this left me incredibly curious.

I noticed Dana rolled her eyes.

The nosy part of me (which was like, ninety percent of me) wanted to start asking questions right away, to be filled in on whatever the hell was going on, but I stayed silent. _Be cool, Max._

"I'm over it," Rachel told Taylor softly. "I genuinely don't care, no worries."

"Alright," Taylor shrugged then spooned some soup into her mouth.

I was aching with curiosity but I didn't say a word. I took a humongous bite of my sandwich to assist me in my struggle of desiring to ask questions that were none of my business.

Blue Haired Girl and Miss Messy Bun sat at a booth near the front of the diner, pretty far away from where we were seated. All I could gather was that obviously whoever they were weren't friends with Rachel or anyone else at my table. _Or maybe they used to be friends and something happened…_ I wondered.

Rachel couldn't hide her agitation at the two girls. She glared at them for a good long minute before returning to her food and acting like nothing had happened. Everyone followed her cue and started chatting about teachers.

I finished up my BLT and chugged the rest of my coke. I was glad I had eaten even though I didn't have much of an appetite before. I felt a lot more relaxed, less jittery.

But I seriously did have to pee. I told the table I'd be right back then I ventured to the girl's room.

In the public restroom it smelled of cleaning supplies too strongly. I ignored it, did my business then washed my hands. There was writing on the wall next to the lightswitch that caught my eye. It was written in heavy black permanent marker, "Trust No One." _Hmm._

I took a moment to myself to stare in the mirror.

 _This is it, Max._ I mentally told myself. _This is the beginning of a new life for you. Things aren't so bad. You're going to be okay. Your episodes can't control you. You can be social and make friends. You will take classes that will allow you to do what you love for a living someday. You're accomplishing your dreams. Everything is going to be—_

My thought process stopped when I got startled by the bathroom door opening. I fumbled and pretended to be fixing my fringe so that I wouldn't look like I was some freak staring at myself in the mirror, giving myself a mental prep talk. Even though that was exactly what I had been doing.

Unfortunately, it was none other than Blue Haired Girl who walked… er, strutted… in. I continued to pretend to fix my hair and I also had to pretend I didn't notice her at all. It was a challenge, especially with so many questions about her and my roommate bouncing around in my brain, aching to escape my lips.

She stood next to me, she was quite a good amount taller than me and I felt her loom over me a bit because she was standing so close. Out of the corner of my eye, through her mirror, I watched her shake her hair out of her beanie and rough it up a bit. Her blue hair was very faded at the top. Her roots were a very pinkish strawberry blonde. No wonder she wore a hat.

For some bizarre reason unknown to me I blurted, "I like your hair." I felt my face heat up the second the words left my mouth and I fidgeted with my fringe nervously.

Blue Haired Girl smirked at me, but not directly at me, she had made eye contact through her mirror. In a weird way it seemed far more direct than turning an inch and looking at my actual face. "Thanks," she said. "I hella need to touch up my roots soon though. I haven't dyed this mess in almost two months." Blue Haired Girl shoved the beanie back over her head and brushed some loose strands out of her eyes.

"Do you go to PCC?" I asked. _WHY ON EARTH AM I BEING SO CHATTY WITH THIS PERSON I DON'T KNOW?_

"Yup. First year." She started washing her hands. "You too?"

"Yeah. First year, too," I responded. I shoved my hands in my pockets, not sure what to do with them anymore. "I live in the dorms. If you want I could help you touch up your hair dye." _Max, when the hell do you ever go out of your way to make plans with people? Are you for cereal? Who asks someone they just met if they want help getting their hair dyed? What the hell._ Internally I was cringing. I added, hoping to sound less creepy, or to at least add some context, "I dye my mom's hair a lot. It's weird. I don't like doing much to my own hair but it's… fun doing someone else's." _God I sound so lame._

"Really?" Blue Haired Girl questioned me and turned a bit to actually look at me.

"Uh, yeah," I sputtered nervously. "Besides, I don't really know anyone at PCC. Trying to change that."

"Aren't you sitting with a whole crew out there?" She shook out her hands instead of grabbing a paper towel or using the air dryer.

 _That means she definitely saw Rachel, and for some reason noticed me._ "Yeah but I don't really know any of them. I just met them tonight, and they're all my roomie's friends."

"Which one is your roommate?"

"Rachel. Rachel Amber. You know her?" Finally I would get some answers!

"Yeah," she answered hesitantly. "We went to the same high school."

"Cool," I said, not sure what else to say. As usual.

She looked away for a second. "I guess." She looked back at me and smiled. "So. Were you serious about that offer? Miss…?"

"Maxine. Max. Just Max," I blubbered. _God, I am really bad at telling people my name today. If this girl goes and calls me Maxine or Just Max I am literally going to scream._

"Super Max to the hair rescue! I'll hella take you up on that offer. I'm Chloe," she grinned.

I grinned back. Super Max was the last thing I had expected to hear, but I kinda liked it.

And suddenly I felt I genuinely wasn't going to be alone this semester. Because there was something about Chloe, and the way I noticed her the first second I saw her, and the way I effortlessly spoke to her, that for some reason… felt like… destiny. Suddenly everything felt right; like all my decisions leading up to PCC were supposed to have been the way they were for the sole purpose of ending up at that particular school.

 _It's obvious I don't have much of a social life if I'm this excited about having an actual friend._

I gave Chloe my number and she said she'd text me to make plans sometime that week.

"I _did_ come in here to piss," she informed me as she turned away from me and towards a stall. "Talk to you soon, Super Max. Looking hella forward to our salon party."

"Yeah," I agreed dumbly as I walked out of the restroom and returned to the table that was already getting busted by our waitress.

"There she is! Did you fall in the toilet, Maxine?" Rachel asked me with a laugh.

"Yeah. That's what happened," I told her sarcastically. I knew I wouldn't tell her about what went down with Chloe. I needed to keep it to myself just in case Chloe was one of her sworn enemies or something weird like that. Having drama or tension between me and my roommate on day one was absolutely the last thing I wanted. There was still a mystery between the two of them that I was determined to solve.

"Well we are almost ready to get out of here, girl!" Dana smiled at me as she stood up and grabbed her purse. "The night is young but _some of us_ haven't started unpacking in our rooms yet!"

"Wow Dana, procrastinate much?" Hayden asked.

"No one asked you, Hayden," she teased.

Everyone chatted, as we all took turns paying off our checks at the counter. Everyone chatted but me anyway. I was lost in thought, still processing all the stuff that had happened to me during the course of the day.

As our mob headed out the door to the Two Whales, we passed Chloe and Miss Messy Bun's booth. I watched Chloe give a slight head nod at us, and everyone in the group nodded back, including Rachel. But I shot Chloe a smile, and she smiled back, and I knew the smile was directed at me and not at them – and I wondered if Rachel noticed, or even cared, and what it would matter if she _did_.

* * *

Thank you for reading the first chapter to what will soon be a 10-20 chapter fic!

If you have any questions or feedback, I always respond so don't be shy.

Sorry this chapter was so long. The beginning always needs a bit of a kickstart. They'll be a bit shorter from here on out. I'm also posting this fic over on AO3 if you prefer to read stuff over there (I'm listed under the same username, RoseRiku).

You're all awesome! :3

-RR-


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